Stitches and Sutures

Your primary care physician can provide stitches and sutures when necessary to close and ensure the proper healing of certain wounds. Skin lacerations that bleed continuously, have jagged edges, are located on the face or elsewhere that scarring presents an issue, or that are accompanied by numbness or the possibility of infection should all be brought to your doctor’s attention as quickly as possible. He or she will thoroughly clean the wound and provide a numbing agent such as a local anesthetic. They will next explore the wound for any additional debris and extract any dead tissue matter from it prior to pulling the edges together and stitching (or suturing) them with surgical thread. Be sure to follow your doctor’s instructions for caring for your wound, and report any significant changes such as redness, swelling, pus or numbness right away. Most stitches can be removed within two weeks, and you’ll be told when to return for this relatively quick process. You should not attempt to remove stitches on your own.